Recently, CAAM released the automobile production and sales data for June 2026. In H1, China's automotive industry continued its transformation and upgrading trend, with the traditional internal combustion engine vehicle market further stabilizing and NEV maintaining growth. From January to June, NEV production and sales reached 7.438 million and 7.446 million units, respectively, both showing YoY growth, with pure electric vehicle sales accounting for 67%.
Against the backdrop of an overall positive NEV market, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles performed relatively weakly. In H1, China's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle production and sales were approximately 500 and 700 units, respectively, down 59.9% and 50.1% YoY. In June alone, production and sales were about 100 and 50 units, with YoY declines of 46.8% and 78.9%, indicating that market promotion remains under significant pressure.
There is a mismatch between early-stage investment and long-term returns.
Currently, hydrogen transportation has formed an industry chain covering hydrogen production, storage and transportation, refueling, and end-use applications, but various constraints still exist at each stage.
At the hydrogen production end, the construction of hydrogen refueling station infrastructure usually requires high investment, with a long payback period. Affected by insufficient hydrogen supply sources and network density, some stations have low operational efficiency. The storage and transportation segment has yet to form a mature and unified refueling system, and coupled with generally high costs of hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and refueling, the economic viability of end-use applications still needs further verification.
Industry insiders believe that the slowdown in fuel cell vehicle development is the result of multiple factors, including technology, costs, supporting facilities, and market demand. High hydrogen production and refueling costs make fuel cell vehicles less economical to purchase and operate than internal combustion engine vehicles and pure electric vehicles. High land costs in some large cities also increase the difficulty of site selection and construction for hydrogen refueling stations. Meanwhile, the limited number of supporting facilities and insufficient station profitability further constrain vehicle promotion.
The industry has not yet achieved economies of scale.
Profit pressure also reflects the development challenges of the hydrogen fuel cell industry. Take the domestic hydrogen fuel cell industry leader Yihuatong as an example: the company's net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company in 2025 was 671 million yuan, with the loss further widening compared to 2024.
The enterprise stated that the prolonged losses were mainly affected by factors such as the early-stage commercialization characteristics of the hydrogen fuel cell industry and changes in the business environment. The industry is still in the initial stage of development, without yet forming large-scale market effects. Market orders are relatively small, competition is intense, and product prices remain under pressure. At the same time, high-tech industries require long-term R&D investment, and the conversion of technological achievements into commercial returns also takes a certain period.
It is widely believed within the industry that breaking the bottleneck in the large-scale development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles requires joint efforts from all parties in the industry chain. Enterprises should maintain a dynamic balance between operation and R&D, continuously optimize cost structures, and seek breakthroughs in technology expansion and application scenario innovation. At the same time, the industry must follow the laws of development and avoid an imbalance between long-termism and short-term market enthusiasm.
